Control
by I'S Watcher
Summary: Mitchell is saved at the last moment, and Annie makes a promise to help him. But there's a problem, another ghost, werewolf, and vampire have turned up at their door, and there are plots brewing in the outside world. Hal and Mitchell-centric. AU. Not slash.
1. Chapter 1

Hi there, yeah I am not particularly sure what made me write this but it's an AU of if Mitchell, George, and Nina hadn't died, but the other three had all come to visit. For some reason I am interested in what the relationship between Mitchell and Hal would be, so it will probably centre around them, although there will be a plot of sorts. Another thing to mention is the fact that **Wyndam etc. haven't come to visit**. I apologise for the writing in advance, I find it quite hard to write from a TV series I guess, but I hope that it's at least half-decent.

TL;DR: Everyone's still alive, Old Ones aren't around (bar Hal), my writing sucks.

* * *

'Stop, both of you, just stop!' Annie's voice pierced the sobs of both Mitchell and George, and George held the stake poised just over Mitchell's heart. 'You can't do this,' tears ran down her face and Mitchell turned to her, and took in just how devastated she was, 'you can't do this to George, Mitchell. You can't do this to, to me.' She bit her lip and paused, the heat of the moment had died and George brought the stake down, his hand now hanging limply from his side.

'Annie, he has to, I've-'

'You've already what? Do you think that it's fair to make him kill you?' Another pregnant pause invaded the room, and Annie moved over to him and took his hand into hers. 'We'll help you Mitchell, but you can't die, you can't leave us here all alone.' They all stood there for a moment, Mitchell's lank hair hanging over his eyes, obscuring the pain he really felt, and George placed a hand on Mitchell's shoulder.

'We'll help you, I promise.' The promise hung in the air of tension, and they stood there for a moment more, the feeling that once they moved their troubles would begin again.

–/-

Two months later...

–/-

It was a sunny day, for April, but John Mitchell was not experiencing it, rather he was locked in the attic experiencing blood withdrawals. It had begun to seem as if time was simply passing him by without meaning, and every movement brought back another face, another kill. He could see the culmination of his entire life, or un-life, and now he begun to wish for death. The murders he had committed hardly seemed possible, plausible, to his blood free mind. How he had managed to commit the crimes he had, watched the people he had loved see he fall back into that dark abyss.

But it was the cravings, the cravings that pulled at his very being. The idea of tasting blood again, warm and thick in his mouth. He dreamt of it, every kill he would make once he was released. What he would do when he was free. Yet it seemed as if it was getting better, it seemed as if that every pull on the bindings that fixed him to the chair was getting less urgent, the feeling of blood less clear in his mind, his disgust at his actions growing. He knew that perhaps, just maybe he would be growing better. As he looked around the empty dark room he sat in, a smile made it way onto his face, maybe it wasn't the answer. Maybe it wasn't a permanent solution, but perhaps he would be able to do better this time.

Downstairs Annie sat with George and Nina, the other two having come back from a day at work, a mug of tea in front of all three of them as they sat to watch The Real Hustle, but this show reminded her of the person who was tied to a chair above her very head. It was painful, it was painful for all of them, her hands lost their grip about the mug, allowing the tea to pour straight through her and onto the sofa underneath.

'Shit!' George looked to her, the tea spilling onto him, his blue eyes lighting up in surprise.

'Annie.' He whined, and Nina looked over.

'That's the third time this has happened this week.'

'I know,' she paused for a moment, 'sorry.' To say that things had become awkward was an understatement, things had changed. It was undeniable. There was also the case of the vampire suffering withdrawals upstairs, and the werewolf, Tom, who had moved in but remained quite separate from the three friends to an extent. At that moment, the doorbell rang and Annie jumped. Eve who had been silent began to wail, and Nina move over to her, soothing her. The programme had been forgot.

'George, get the door.'

'Who is it?'

'I don't know George, just get it.' Annie said impatiently, George moved to the door, unaware of what would come next, and how their lives would change from his decision to answer the door.

–/-

'So Eve is supposed to save you from dying?' Nina looked at the black man standing the front room of their house.

'Supposedly.' The man standing behind him spoke finally, Tom bristled for a moment and Leo looked back at him.

'It was an angel, she spoke to me and told me that if I came here, she would save me.'

'From what exactly?' Tom asked, and a glimmer of sadness passed across Leo's eyes, and a heavy sigh escaped from his female companion.

'I'm old you see, every transformation I make takes more and more out of me.' The sound of baby crying began again, and the people in the room looked to the source of the noise. 'It seems so incredible that one so young can have that much power.' Leo turned to his friends and George took the initiative.

'Alright, you can stay, until the next full moon and we'll see whether or not she can save you.' A smile split onto the female ghosts face and onto Leo, whilst the male vampire simply looked indifferent. Nina however did not look so pleased, and she took a seat at one of the bar stools.

'Great so now we're a lodging house for supernatural creatures then?' Her gaze fell on the vampire. 'And now we're going to have two homicidal maniacs in the house.'

'Two?' He bristled nervously, 'There's another vampire in the house? Where is he?' The room fell silent, and even the babies crying stopped, Annie's hands clamped nervously around each other and finally spoke up.

'Well, he's er, sobering up at the moment.'

'What do you mean?'

'He had a little slip recently and we're trying to get the blood out of his system.'

'He doesn't drink blood?' Hal gave a nervous laugh, 'I mean, I had heard of others, but I didn't realise that I might meet them.'

'Why do you?' Tom interrupted the conversation, fixing Hal with a harsh stare. He remained silent for a moment, looking outside the window on the rapidly darkening world.

'Not for fifty years.' Pearl took a step towards Tom.

'Look, he's been clean for a long time, he's not going to cause any trouble. Just as long as you don't give him any Kia-Ora.' A laugh escaped Nina's mouth.

'Kia-Ora?'

'Yes, or budgies.'

'That was one time Pearl.' Slowly he moved towards a chair and sat down onto it, hoping to deflect attention away from him, and he fiddled nervously with his hands. 'Look I'm fine. I won't do anything to hinder your friend's progress.' Annie who had been silent for a while was looking at the assembled crowd in the room, and gave an impatient tap of her foot.

'Alright, let's get you into some rooms, goodness knows we have enough space.'

–/-

Mitchell felt as if he could hear so much more now, every patter of rain on the rooftop, every movement of the people below, and it took him a moment to notice that it sounded as if there was slightly more movement downstairs than usual. The room below him for example had someone pacing in it, and it sounded almost like they had visitors. But that was absurd, they would never have visitors, there were footsteps coming up the hall however, and he opened his eyes as he heard the creaky door open. It was George.

'Are you alright?' He stood in the doorway nervously and Mitchell gave a nod.

'It's getting better. I think I might be able to get out of here soon.'

'Are you sure?' Mitchell glanced up at the ceiling for a moment and down to George again.

'I think so.'

'It's just that we kind of need to get you out soon, there's um, some visitors here.'

'Visitors?' George gave a sigh.

'Eve is a apparently supposed to save this old werewolf, who brought his vampire and ghost friends.'

'She's a baby George. She's not going to save anyone.'

'It's his dying wish, or at least that's what the ghost told me.' Mitchell bit his lip.

'I can't be around another vampire, you do realise that. They tend to bring out the worse side of my nature.'

'No, it's not like that. Or at least I don't think so. He's been dry for fifty years.'

'Fifty years?' George nodded. 'Christ.' There was a pause and Mitchell looked around at the room he had been in for the past two months, he really wanted to get out of it, and he had his chance. It was just that he wasn't sure he was not going to kill anyone again.

'Look, please, we just need you around just in case that vampire tries anything.'

'How old is he?'

'I don't know, you don't exactly just go up to someone and ask how old they are Mitchell.'

'What's his name then?' The werewolf didn't talk for a moment and appeared to be thinking.

'Um, something beginning with H, not Harry though, you know I'm not good with names.' Mitchell didn't speak for a moment, but the overwhelming need to be free overtook him and he gave a sigh.

'Alright. Let me out then.'

'Are you sure?'

'Yes. I just need to be better this time, no getting involved in local politics, no talking to anyone, I just need to be human again.' And as George released him, and he began to stand up on his legs that were weak from very little use, George gave a smile.

'You'll do it. We'll do it together.'

He was led down the stairs by George and he had to get himself used to movement again, his room seemed the same as it had been before, although it looked as if someone had given it a quick tidy, probably Annie. Although he wouldn't put it past George, and it took him a moment to take it all in. He was free from his prison at last, but maybe he was just moving into another one, the prison of bloodlust once again.

Moving quickly over to his bed, he thought about what he had done. What had possessed him? What had made him want to do what he had done to those poor people in the Box Tunnel? Quickly he lay on the bed, movement still exerting him too much and closed his eyes, trying to forget the atrocities that he had committed just months earlier.

–/-

Annie soothed the baby in her arms quietly, the night's duties having been passed to her. Her arms held the small child, and she thought about how this small being could affect the werewolf upstairs. Maybe Eve would, she hoped so, but a feeling of foreboding came over her when she thought of the new guests, specifically the vampire who had come with Leo.

–/-

Mitchell froze when he saw who was standing the corridor in front of him, it couldn't be him. What were the others thinking when they invited him into the house. Hal noticed him with detachment, knowing what the thoughts of the other vampire would be. Thankfully there was no one else around to notice their confrontation, and he moved the domino in his hands as the other came towards him.

'What are you doing here?' Mitchell asked, he was so close to him now, and a feeling of nervousness came over him as the thought of being around someone so old came into his head. 'Do they know who you are?'

'I'm not who you think I am.' Hal bit his lip and waited for the other to respond.

'So you're not Lord Harry.' The Irish vampire gave a sarcastic snort, 'I remember you, back in the old days, the nightclubs in Paris.'

'I've changed.'

'That's what they all say.'

'Don't they know who you are? What you've done then?' Mitchell bristled, nervous at the confrontation.

'They know all about me.' Hal closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

'Look, I'm not that, that person anymore.' Mitchell was about to speak when he noticed Annie standing down the corridor, he looked to her and then back to Hal.

'So, I see you've met Hal then.'

'I've met him before.' As if in unison both of them turned away from each other, and walked in opposite directions, leaving Annie standing at the end of the corridor. 'Jesus bloody Christ,' she sighed, '_men._'


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, and favourited this story. I currently have a 4,000 word essay to write, so you'll probably see a ton of updates in the next few weeks... (Procrastination.) Anyway, enjoy the next chapter, I hope it's not too dire, and let me know what you think!

* * *

-/-

The atmosphere around the house for the next few days was, to put it lightly, tense. Mitchell and Hal avoided each other whenever they could, whilst George and Nina prepared for the upcoming full moon. It seemed unlikely that Leo would survive it, and Nina personally doubted the idea that Eve would be able to save anyone.

Even so, it was a chance. And if the old man was going to die, it was perhaps better that he did it feeling fulfilled, otherwise he probably wouldn't find his door. She sat in the living room with Eve looking down at her child in wonder, was it really true that Eve was something special? She stroked her head lovingly, and placed her back into the crib before downing the tea that she had by her side. It was still dark outside, but tendrils of light were just beginning to appear. Quickly she checked her watch, she was going to be late for work, where the hell was George? He was supposed to be on baby duty until his shift started, and she walked over to the stairs and looked up. He was coming, she could hear his heavy footsteps in the room above. Sighing, she glanced back over to Eve and took the decision to leave, otherwise she wasn't going to get to work at least sort-of on time, and she couldn't afford to get fired. She walked to the door, opened it, and with one last glance at her child, left the house.

–/-

'Hal.' Hal looked up from the desk in his room, and placed the domino in his hand on it.

'Yes?' It was Annie, and she appeared to be holding some kind of paper in her hand.

'Leo asked me to buy this, I'm not really sure what it is though.' He looked at the paper, it was a ring. An engagement ring.

'It's a ring, Annie.'

'I know. But he wants me to buy this exact one.' A grimace passed over his face.

'They probably haven't made those rings since 1963.' He turned back from her, and went back to his dominos, and placed the final one in the circle. Every time he had to resist the temptation to knock them all down, but steeling himself, he went to taking each individual one down. Suddenly he felt a movement behind him, and he turned around again. 'What?'

'Look, can you just try and find something similar to that?'

'Annie. I can't be around humans.' She bit her lip.

'He's _your _friend Hal.' Domino's forgotten, he stood up and turned fully around to face her, and pulled the sheet of paper out of her hands.

'I'll see what I can do.' Annie made to leave and walked to the door, but paused.

'He um, asked whether you could take Mitchell with you.'

'_Mitchell?_' He asked, why would Leo want that, I mean, he'd just met him.

'Yeah.'

'I'm not sure that's such a good idea, the guy's just come off blood.'

'Ask him.' Moving quickly he grabbed his jacket and pulled it on.

'Alright, fine, I'll see if I can stop him from attacking someone.'

–/-

'You're never going to have any self-control if your room's like this.' He stood at the doorway of Mitchell's room, and looked with disgust into it. It was so messy he could barely even see the floor of the place. Mitchell looked up at him, a hint of loathing in his eyes.

'What are you doing here?' The side of his lip pulled up in a sneer and Hal twirled the pen he had in his fingers.

'We're going on a trip apparently.'

'What?'

'Leo asked me to get you so we could go on a shopping trip together.'

'_Together?_' Mitchell gave a snort, 'I can't go outside yet. And I don't want to go anywhere with you.'

'He probably thinks it's some kind of bonding activity. I don't know.'

'What does he think you're going to stay with us after he dies?'

'He's not going to die.' Mitchell looked like he didn't believe what Hal was saying, and if he was being true to himself, he didn't believe what he was saying either, but Leo had to stay alive, it was the only way that he would control himself. He didn't quite know what he would do when the inevitable end came. Mitchell looked like he wasn't going to move and Hal gave a sigh of exasperation. 'Look, do you particularly want him stuck here because he didn't get his door?'

'This is not going to screw up his door.'

'There have been weirder ones.' The Irish vampire pushed himself up from his bed, and grabbed a jacket from the floor.

'Fine.'

–/-

It was a short walk to the nearest shopping area in the town of Barry, but both vampires were clearly struggling with the outside world. It wasn't as if Hal had not been outside in the past years, and he had been getting better, but now it was beginning to become more challenging. Maybe it was the fact that Leo was dying- and he was dying there was no way to get around that- or the fact that he was no longer in Southend, it felt like that part of him that he hated was returning/

The day was pleasant, not too cold, but the shops in Barry were, _disappointing_ to say the least. There was only one little shop that looked as if it sold engagement rings, a dingy little pawn shop on the main high street. Grimacing slightly he opened the door, and let Mitchell go in first. They had not really talked since they had left the house, and whatever Leo was playing at was probably not working out the way he had planned it to. Inside the shop looked even worse, and there were an assortment of items around the place that looked as if they had been there for years, a mangy wolf's head on the wall, a couple of old books, rings and jewels, all things that people had pawned away over the years. The shop keeper was a dodgy looking man as well, very rough around the edges, he held a copy of 'The Sun' in his hands and when he noticed the two new entrants to the shop he looked as if he was pissed off with having been disrupted from his daily business.

'Wha' do you want?' He asked, Mitchell stayed silent and left Hal to do the talking, and he could see the internal battle that was going on within him.

'Ah, yes. We were just wondering whether the ring in the window was for sale.' The man looked the two vampires up and down.

'Which one?'

'The engagement one.' A sneer made it's way onto the man's face.

'You're not queers are you?' Hal snorted, and stared at the man.

'No, we're not gay.' The shop owner gave a nod at Mitchell, who froze.

'What's wrong with 'im then? Does he not speak?' Mitchell was standing by the door, clearly trying to deal with what was going on within him, but slowly he shook his head.

'No. I do.'

'Look, I'd just appreciate it if you could just sell us the ring?' Annoyance bubbled up within Hal, annoyance at the pushy man and the way he assumed everything, he lay his hand on the desk and drummed his fingers on it. The shop keeper looked to him, his blue eyes studying his face for a moment.

'No I don' wan' to sell it to a bunch of bloody gays.'

'I've told you, we're not gay.' The beat of his fingers grew quicker and he could just feel the bloodlust under the surface. This wasn't a good idea. Leaving Southend wasn't a good idea. None of this was a good idea. He could hear the beat of the man's heart in his ears, and tried to restrain himself.

'Well yer bloody weird.' Out of the corner of his eye he could see Mitchell moving towards the desk, and a foreboding feeling came over him.

'I don't mind how much you want to sell it for, but I really suggest that you might sell it to us.' Mitchell said, bringing himself closer to the man as he did.

'Mit-' Hal began.

'We're just trying to find an engagement ring, alright it's not really any of your business as to why we need it.' For a moment there was no movement, but then suddenly the man pulled a gun out from underneath the desk and pointed it straight at Mitchell's chest. The man's heart was beating louder, from adrenaline, and both the vampires in the room could hear it. Both of them knew as well that if one slipped, the other would too.

'I wouldn't do that if I were you.' Hal said to the man, who still had his eyes fixed on Mitchell, and his eyes hastily focused onto Hal.

'Hal.' Mitchell warned.

'What?'

'I can't.'

'You can Mitchell, alright.'

'Get ou' of my shop.'

'Just sell us the bloody ring!' Hal almost shouted, 'All we want is to buy a ring.' He had calmed down slightly, but Mitchell clearly hadn't, before Hal knew it Mitchell had launched himself at the man, fangs bared and eyes dark, and in the panic of the moment the gun had been dropped to the floor. Thankfully it didn't go off, but it's clatter as it hit the floor pushed Hal into action and he jumped across the desk to pull Mitchell off. But the man had grazed the palm of his hands from being pushed onto the floor, and Hal was distracted for a moment. By that point the smell of the blood had spread through the whole room, and Hal could feel his fangs in his mouth. With every ounce of self-will that he had he pulled Mitchell away from the man at the moment he was about to bite into his neck and the shop keeper pushed himself away from the two men.

'Wha'- Wha' are you?' His hands were shaking and the smell of blood and the beating of his heart were making Hal dizzy. Mitchell tried to pull away from him but Hal's grip tightened.

Slowly, he pulled him away and out from the shop, leaving the shop keeper shacking on the floor, but he still managed to swipe the ring on the way out and it was on his little finger. For a moment they both stood there, Mitchell edging back to his normal state and the horror was evident in his eyes.

'What just happened? Did I-'

'Forget about it.' Mitchell took a deep breath of air and looked back into the shop, where the man was still huddled in the corner. 'We have to sort this out.'

'It's fine. He's hardly going to do anything.' Mitchell ground his teeth and looked around at the street they were in.

'I can't be here. I shouldn't have come out.' He began to walk off, and Hal took one last look at the shop keeper before walking briskly to catch up with him.

'It's fine.' He didn't quite know what to say to the vampire, and he stopped speaking for a moment. 'Look when I first stopped drinking blood I attacked a budgie.' Mitchell stopped walking and turned to him. Hal had never been particularly adept at giving comfort to others, but right now he knew what was happening to the other vampire.

'A budgie?'

'It's a long story.' They began to walk again and it only took a moment for them to reach the car, Hal pulled open the driver's door and sat in the seat whilst he waited for Mitchell. The scent of blood was still on his mind, and he could practically imagine what it would be like for him to fall off the wagon. But he had been strong, he had resisted the call, yet that little voice in his mind was telling him that the next time he might not be so lucky. It was wrong of him to be here, he shouldn't have ever left Southend, but here he was, and the fact that there was another vampire in the house made it even more likely that he would revert back to the person he formerly was.

'Hal?' A voice called him out of his thoughts and he turned to Mitchell, who had clearly been sitting there staring at him for a while.

'Sorry.' Quickly he placed the key in the ignition and began to drive, trying to ignore the thought of blood in his mind.

–/-

The other werewolf, Leo, had passed over the night before, taking the ghost with him, and so there were now two strangers in the house. Tom was solitary, and kept himself to himself, although Annie supposed that had there not been so many people in the house perhaps he would have come into his own, he was mourning the death of McNair was all that Annie could think of as to why he was so silent. But he looked after Eve well, and it must be difficult for him to have moved into a house with people who he barely knew, just after the death of a man who he thought was his father. The other guest, Hal, was also being silent, simply drifting around all day, carrying out his routine of domino laying and lute playing, but she wondered whether he was going to stay.

It was because of this that she materialised into his room just at the moment he had finished doing his tenth push ups of the day, and he looked at her quite shocked.

'You do realise that it is common courtesy to knock?' He asked as he shrugged on a shirt, buttoning it up as she spoke.

'Yeah, sorry.' Annie paused, wondering how to phrase the next sentence. 'Listen, I um, was wondering what you would do next?'

'Next?' The way that he spoke, he communicated quite a lot through very few words, and was just slightly intimidating, although from what Mitchell told her this man could be far more so.

'Yes, well, I was wondering whether you were going to stay here or, er, go somewhere else?' She didn't mean for the last part of the last sentence to sound so hopeful, but the thought of having two vampires in the house made her feel slightly worried. Especially since they usually managed to bring each other down.

'I'm not sure at the moment. I don't really have anywhere to go you see,' he glanced at her, and walked over to his desk and looked down, 'I'm worried that I might... _revert_ if, well, I go somewhere else.'

'I jus-'

'You're worried that I'm going to go crazy?' His eyes flicked upwards and stared into hers, 'There's always a chance of that, but I think that I can stay on the right path if I- if I try.'

–/-

It was in the housemeeting that the four originals were having that everything changed, they were discussing whether or not Hal should stay and George was just arguing with Annie when they saw the figure walking up the path to their house.

'Who is that?' Nina asked, getting up quickly and peering out the window, but she couldn't make out the person in the dark. It looked like a man, rather tall, and if she was correct with dark hair. Just as she was about to tell the other's who it looked like, there was a knock at the door.

'John. I know you're in there, there's no point trying to hide.' The accent was well spoken and there was something about it that sounded... Old. When Nina glanced at Mitchell though, she could clearly see that he recognised it and fear flashed across his eyes. Slowly he turned to Annie.

'Get Hal.' The serious tone was evidence in his voice, and Annie was about to question him, but he spoke before she could. 'Just,' he paused and squeezed his eyes shut, 'please.' The last word was so desperate that she found herself unable to argue back and the other three watched as she disappeared from the room, leaving air in her space.

'John, John, John.' The voice was quietly mocking but Mitchell was frozen to the spot, staring at the carpet.

'Mitchell?' George hissed, 'Who is that?' The squeaky tone that always appeared in his accent when he was frightened was apparent, and brought Mitchell out of his near-trance, but he still didn't say anything. But the voice was soon to answer that question, and when Nina looked away from the two friends her heart almost stopped beating. Somehow the man had managed to get inside and she studied him for a moment. He looked youngish, but she knew that was simply an illusion, his aura held far more age about it that she had ever seen in a vampire.

'John, why don't you introduce me to your pets then?' Instantaneously he snapped his head back to look at the man standing in the front of their living room, and didn't say anything for a moment. It was a curious scene really, Mitchell had never looked so scared, not even when he was around Herrick, and the very fact that _Mitchell _was frightened made the other two in the room nervous too.

It was at that moment that Nina could hear the stairs creaking, and the two vampires must have noticed it too, since their attention moved to the stairs. From behind the former Bed and Breakfast desk walked Hal, who when he saw who was standing in the front room froze. The uninvited guest however gave a long, insincere laugh.

'Well if my eyes don't deceive me? Are you in on this little dress-up game then too Harry?' Hal, just like Mitchell, seemed unable to talk, but something within him changed and there was a steel in his voice when he spoke.

'I prefer Hal.' A smirk spread over the other man's face, and he walked closer to Hal, Mitchell having been forgot.

'Oh, are you in one of your 'good' phases at the moment then?' Hal didn't speak, but walked closer to the man.

'What are you doing here Wyndam?'

'What am I doing here? What are _you _doing here? We've all been looking for you, you know, ever since you pulled that disappearing act in the '50's.' A sardonic smile passed over Wyndam's face. 'Well, in reality, I was coming here for John, after his little _stunt_, a few months ago.' Seeing Hal's curious look Wyndam went onto explain. 'Oh, so you don't know about that then? John here committed a crime that could be worthy of something you did in your earlier -better- days, he went and killed twenty people on a train, but sadly he left a pretty obvious trail. So I was sent in to deal with it.' Hal glanced at Mitchell, and then to George and Nina who were looking at him with curiosity, he didn't want them to know about his past, and wave of regret passed though him.

'But it's been months.' Mitchell had finally spoken, and Wyndam looked down at him.

'Yes, there were some delays. But I didn't think I'd be so lucky to find not one, but two of our most wanted. Ah, but John, I've been sent to collect you. There are changes happening, and I want you to work for me.'

'Work. For you?' He looked almost sickened by the prospect.

'You can't just come in here and tell him to work for you.' George suddenly said in the lull of the conversation, but Wyndam simply regarded him with an unimpressed expression on his face.

'I've lived a thousand years, that gives me quite a lot of leverage.' With that he turned his head away from the werewolf and focused his attention on Mitchell again. 'Now, John, if you don't I'll kill your friends here.'

'No you won't.' Wyndam looked around to the source of the voice, and gave a snort.

'Do you think I'm afraid of you like this then? You're like a spider without poison when you're not off the wagon. Easily crushed.' But it didn't seem like that, Hal looked more comfortable when confronting Wyndam than Nina had seen him when he was around the others.

'Really Wyndam?' The tone of his voice had changed, hidden threat lacing it and he took a step towards him. 'Perhaps I can enlighten you on what is going to happen. You are going to walk out that door and drive off, and leave the residents of this house in peace, otherwise you might find yourself with a stake through your heart.'

'Do you think you can scare me with that talk? I'm five hundred years-'

'And I can be far more brutal.' This time it was Hal who smirked, appearing to fit into a completely different persona. 'Come on, hurry back off to your master and tell him who you saw.' Wyndam stood for a moment and thought, but his face remained impassive.

'I'll be back for both of you.' He said, before turning away, but he reached the doorway and stopped and swivelled back to face the four, but stared specifically at the werewolves. 'I'd watch your backs if I were you George and Nina.' With that he walked through the doorway and as soon as he left Hal's expression visibly crumpled and he gripped the back of a chair to steady himself. Mitchell too looked shaken by the experience and looked to Hal.

'If I didn't know better, I'd say he was scared of you.' Hal looked at Mitchell.

'Everyone _should _be scared of me.'


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry that it's a tad shorter than the other ones and sort of fillerish but it had to be done. I wish that I didn't have to cover all of the stuff that happened in the Series but I'm afraid that some of it is integral to the plot. Please review if you enjoyed/hated it, it's nice to hear what people think of you're writing and I know mine is not the best- also I know there are a couple of typos that I have probably missed (sorry).**

**To the reviewer who asked about Alex, well we'll have to wait and see won't we :) Oh, and I am sorry for the poor Hal and Mitchell interaction in this chapter.**

**Thanks for reading!**

* * *

Tom was lonely, that was how he would put it. He had lost his father, or who ever McNair really was, and now in this new house, with these strange people, he did not really know. It was hard being around the two vampires, he knew what they were and it was difficult after years of hunting down vampires, now changing and having to be _friends _with them. But it was the only place he had, and the only place he knew to go to at the moment.

–/-

It was at five o'clock in the afternoon that George found out that Nina was dead. A person from the hospital called and said that Nina hadn't turned up for work, and later that day a call from the police came through, saying that she had been found stabbed and her body had been laid by her murderer on the beach. Of course there was going to be an investigation, but knowing the vampires, there was no way that anything would ever come at it.

George did not really do much for days, he stared at the television or lay on the couch. He ignored his child, and it was as if he had died. The rest of the housemates were on edge around him, Annie would occasionally give him cups of tea, which she would find half-drunk on the floor by his sleeping form. He refused to go back to the bedroom that he and Nina shared and so most nights he could be found sleeping on the sofa. Mitchell almost felt as if it was his fault, for refusing Wyndam, for killing those twenty people on a train which brought him to the attention of the Old Ones, for everything really.

Those days were strange days indeed, punctuated by the occasional wail of Eve or the door closing as Michell or Tom went to work, but no one said anything really, George's position at the centre of the house meant that it was impossible for them to have conversations in the kitchen or anywhere really. And of course, Annie and Mitchell were both in mourning- for both of them Nina had been a friend for a long time, and her loss was felt, but neither felt it as keenly as George.

It was a week into this period of mourning that Annie and Mitchell decided to do something about the George situation.

'George, get up.' Annie stood above George from his position of the sofa, and he opened his bleary eyes to find her standing there. The television blared in the background, and he realised he must have fallen asleep watching the reality television show that he had tried to use to distract himself.

'I can't.'

'You've been like this for days George, you have to get up.' He closed his eyes again and tried to shut them again, to keep out the real world, but he was rudely awakened when he felt someone grab his arms and hoist him into a standing position.

'George, come on.' His head turned and he looked to Mitchell. 'We've already lost one friend, and we can't lose another.'

'I don't want to.'

'Do you think Eve needs a father like this?' Annie asked after a moment, 'She needs a proper father, you can't stay like this forever.' Mitchell let go of him, and he was standing on his own two feet, he stared at his two friends, the stood at an awkward distance from each other, and a spiteful part of him revelled in the fact that they too did not get to live happily ever after.

'Annie, I can-'

'You can't what George?' Right now all he wanted to do was return to his position on the couch, and fall back asleep, but he realised that he couldn't be selfish.

'She's dead,' he paused, grief over taking him at that realisation, 'how can she be dead?' The morning of the day that she died, she had been so full of life, so normal and yet his whole world had changed in a matter of moments.

'George,' Mitchell began and he too paused struggling to find the right words, 'I know she is, but life has to move on. You have a child now.' With a resigned sigh, George nodded and moved zombie-like up the stairs to have a shower.

–/-

It was around this time that the housemates realised that the vampire who was lodging upstairs would have to start paying rent, since this seemed to be a long-term thing, and in some ways Mitchell didn't mind the idea of Hal staying, not since he fended of Wyndam. But he still felt slightly apprehensive, the idea of two vampires staying together, well it just never tended to go well. He knocked on the door, slightly worried, and glanced at Annie behind him.

'Come in.' Mitchell pushed the door and saw Hal lining up the dominos just as he did every day, and silently he wondered how the man had the patience to do that. Hal turned around slightly and looked at the two of them. 'What is it?'

'Well, the thing is,' Annie begun, finding it difficult to be subtle, 'is er, well, we're not a homeless shelter.' Just after she said the words she almost wanted to smack herself in the head, she had just implied that he was homeless.

'We need you to pay rent.' Mitchell said after a moment. 'Do you have any money stored away or...'

'A bit, but it might be unwise for me to access it.' There was a moment of silence and Hal stared at the pair in the doorway, before he pushed himself up from his chair.

'Could you maybe get a job?' A flash of annoyance passed over his face and Hal stared at Annie for a moment.

'A job?' He looked almost gobsmacked.

'Well, I mean it just does-' Annie begun, but Hal cut her off.

'I don't really do well around people, it's how I manage my _condition_.'

'Mitchell's been alright.' A hollow laugh escaped Hal's mouth.

'Mitchell,' he said slowly, 'has also "fallen off the wagon" quite a few times as well.' He didn't speak for a moment, before he realised what he had just said. 'I don't mean that offensively of course.'

'Don't worry about it.' The Irish vampire said quietly, and he tried to avoid the look that Annie gave him.

'Hal, we really can't just let you get away with not having a job. Getting out might be good for you, you never know.' Annie walked closer towards him, and thought about giving him a comforting pat on the shoulder, before realising that it was far too awkward. 'Look, with Nina gone and George out of action, we really need the money.' Hal relented.

'Fine. But where am I going to get a job then, it's not exactly as if they are falling off trees at the moment.' Before Annie could speak he interrupted, 'And there is no way that I am getting a job at the hospital, there's far too much blood around there.' It was at that moment that the person who had been watching the conversation from afar joined in.

'He coul' ge' a job with me?' Tom said, and they all looked at him.

'How long have you been standing there?' Mitchell asked, a tone of baffled amusement evident in his voice.

'No' that long, just to hear that Hal needs a job.' Hal bit down the annoyance at the young man's _generous _offer but nodded.

'Thank you Tom.' Even to him his voice sound strange, and he was barely keeping down the anger at the fact that he was being forced to work. Didn't they know that keeping away from humans was the only way for him to stay clean.

–/-

This meant that Hal soon found himself in the dank cafe that Tom worked at, but it wasn't so bad, the job that was. The cafe was empty quite a lot, and the risk of him throwing himself at someone and draining them was therefore small. The only problem was Tom, the young werewolf seemed to not particularly like him much, and he had to say that he didn't particularly like Tom, not since he found the stake underneath the towels on top of the fridge.

'Tom,' he called, he was standing in the kitchen washing the grease from his hands, but he had glanced into the cafe and saw that there was a customer outside. 'There's a customer.' The werewolf came running out from behind the door, looking quite shifty, had hurried over to the customer. Had Hal been his previous self he would have killed the werewolf for the trick that he pulled on him, and he could just feel that side of him practically _begging _to come out. He had thought that he had beaten the beast inside him, but he had forgot how easily he changed, all the times it had happened. London, 1621; Paris 1712; Washington, 1813; Berlin, 1908- he could list them all off in his head. He cleared his mind, he was not overdue, he was a different person, he could beat the monster that lurked in the inner depths of his mind.

He took a breath and stared into the cafe, and watched Tom interact with the customer. She was pretty, a blonde, and he envied Tom and how easily he functioned with the world around him. That's why vampires hated werewolves, and he sighed and took the rubbish out. He didn't quite realise who would be waiting there for him, he recognised the face almost immediately.

'My Lord, it's really you?' Hal stared at him, not quite believing it.

'Get up.' It was pitiful really how the vampires he had recruited flailed around him. 'You have the wrong person.' The man looked up, still in his kneeling position and he slowly pushed himself up.

'No it's not. I'd recognise you anywhere.' A slow smile found it's way onto the vampire's face.

'I am not the same person, Fergus.' Hal took the other by the throat and slammed him into the wall, trying to keep some semblance of a sane personality. 'Leave me alone.'

'I heard you're living with John Mitchell. He's caused a few disturbances.' Hal's eyes widened slightly, and he lowered the man from the wall.

'What? How do you know that?'

'You pulled him off the man at the shop, didn't you.' Fergus laughed for a few seconds, and then he focused his attention onto Hal again. 'The two most moral vampires in the whole world, living together. But you know it's not goin-'

'Fergus. Please, I don't want to cause any trouble.'

'Well Wyndam's got his eye out for you.' The older vampire closed his eyes briefly, and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to calm himself down. He flicked them open after a moment, and looked around at the surroundings he was in, he was Lord Harry and he was working at a bloody cafe. No. He had to keep those thoughts out of his head.

'I appreciate the warning Fergus.'

'Did you like his little gift to your merry band?' Hal sneered slightly.

'They are not my merry band.' He said that, but did he really mean it? They seemed to be the only people he had. 'And what gift?'

'The werewolf bitch.' For a moment Hal didn't say anything, so Wyndam was behind it? As much as he hated the man, him being killed would perhaps cause some _complications_. How was he was supposed to deal with this now?


	4. Chapter 4

**Annnd welcome to the next instalment, had a bit of a block for a moment, but I'm back on the writing ship again... Yeah, sorry for the chapter it's probably not my greatest, but it ends on a bit of cliffhanger *gasp* (I'm not great at cliffhangers but um...) So. Enjoy the chapter and I'll try and have something happen in the next one.**

* * *

_Florence, 1816_

With the Napoleonic Wars finally over, Europe had relaxed somewhat, or at least that was what Hal felt once he had returned from the New World- but it might have been because he wasn't holding back and not drinking blood. The world felt bright and new, and as if nobody could stop him. He hadn't returned to England yet, he was waiting for the right moment to go and see if his other self had sold of his assets in some fit of self-pity. For now he went to the balls in Florence, and saw the Italian Art, and of course _courted_ Italian girls.

As he strolled down the side of the river running through Florence in the mild weather of March, he found himself staring at another man, who had a girl with him, but it didn't take Hal long to recognise what he was. The man appeared to have noticed him too, and it was funny really the reaction he had to seeing the other vampire. Of course, there weren't many vampires in the small city, but there was something to be said for it.

It just stank of history, and the old mediaeval buildings reminded him of the ones from his childhood. There weren't many left in England when, torn down for the new factories or for new houses to be built, and he wondered whether his old home was even still left now. Of course it wasn't, why would an old brothel be kept standing, especially one at the centre of town. There was probably one of those dark satanic mills standing over it, pumping out grey smoke to the atmosphere.

He realised that the other vampire had stopped moving, and simply stared at him. The girl too, but he shooed her off, clearly unnerved by the presence of another vampire. She looked put out, and she walked away, the fabric of her green dress being rustled by the wind. Hal was not one to go to someone, and so he waited for the man to cross the busy street and come to greet him, once he approached Hal studied him more. Relatively handsome, not classically so but girls might see some appeal to him, he looked Slavic, maybe Russian; tall, dressed well. The man held out his hand, and Hal looked down at it briefly before raising his to meet it.

'How do you do?' Hal smirked slightly, this situation was just so ridiculous. 'I am Ivan.'

'Harry.' He looked for a spark of recognition in the man's eyes, but there wasn't any, a flicker of anger ran through him. His other bloody self had clearly ruined the reputation that he had built up over all those years.

''For what reason are you in Florence?'

'Travelling,' he paused, slightly surprised, 'do you not recognise me?'

'Should I?'

'No, I have just been away from the Old World for a while.'

'Have you been in America then?'

'Yes, I was in a bit of a, how to put it... nasty situation.' Well, nasty was not quite the word, being chased out of a small settlement by a dozen angry villagers and then being hunted across North Carolina seemed slightly more than nasty, but then again, it had _really _been worth it. 'Would you perhaps like to have luncheon with me?' The younger vampire looked slightly surprised, but then nodded.

'Of course.' A smile played its way across Hal's face, perhaps it was time for him to build his reputation back up again. Maybe on his journey back to England.

–/-

The knock at the door surprised everyone, not least because it was nine thirty at night, and also because the amount of visitors the housemates got was minimal, unless of course they were psychotic vampires.

'Annie?' Mitchell called from the living room, he and George were watching The Real Hustle, but neither of them were really focusing on it, George was too wrapped up in his grief, while Mitchell was trying to stop thinking about the man who had been found dead- the man who he had almost attacked.

'Yeah?' She was in the kitchen with the baby, trying to get her to stop crying. Ever since Nina had died, Eve had become a lot more loud, especially at the funeral. But everyone had been crying at the funeral, perhaps not the two new additions to the house, but George, Mitchell, and herself had certainly cried. It was a horrible event, not that funerals were usually nice, but it was the fact that the day was grey, and there was a slight drizzle in the air as they lowered the coffin into the ground. George had let out the most horrific sob a the Priest spoke and had all but broken down. It was strange seeing George, who was usually so calm and collected (most of the time) act in that way, but the funeral had been good for him and had perhaps given him a measure of more acceptance. He and Tom had been planning to seek out the vampires who had clearly taken up residence on Barry, but luckily Annie had managed to talk him out of it.

'Can you get the door?' She looked out from the kitchen to where George and Mitchell were sat, still in their black clothes from the funeral and realised that neither of them were going to get up from the sofa any time soon. Sighing, she looked at Eve one more time and rent-a-ghosted to the door and swung it open. There was a man standing there, she recognised him from somewhere, and he was clearly of the supernatural disposition since he could clearly see her.

'Is Mitchell there?' For a moment she hesitated, but gave in.

'One second.' She said before rent-a-ghosting to the sofa and she put her hand on Mitchell's shoulder. 'Um, Mitchell, there's someone her for you.'

'What? Who?' He said looking up, but shrugged off her hand and walked to the door, he walked quickly when he saw who it was, his jaw almost dropped to the floor. 'Ivan?'

–/-

'Still off the blood then?' Ivan said once Mitchell had invited him inside, and Mitchell nodded silently.

'How are you alive? I buried you.' He then almost shook his head, how could he have not realised, the same way that Herrick returned. 'Who fed you?' Ivan looked at him slightly shocked that he knew what had happened, but then explained.

'Herrick send some vampires back, before you killed him -again- obviously, to resurrect the Bristol vampires.' For a moment Mitchell said nothing, he had committed a mass murder in this man's name. And it was all for nothing?

'Why are you here Ivan?'

'Me? Oh, I'm looking for Daisy, no on-'

'I'm sorry Ivan.' Mitchell cut him off because he couldn't hear his friend say anymore, Ivan was about to open his mouth to speak, when his gaze travelled upwards and Mitchell remembered just who was staying upstairs, he turned his head too and saw Hal looking down at them half-curiously, half looking as if he was about to shit himself. Ivan looked back to Mitchell.

'What the hell is Hal Yorke doing here?' Mitchell could hear Hal coming down the stairs slowly, clearly nervous, before he turned around and looked at the Old One.

'It's a very long story.' Hal had made it to where the other two vampires were standing and he stared at Ivan for a moment. Mitchell turned back to Hal and hissed at him, 'you know you have a bloody talent at walking down the stairs when vampires are around here, second fecking time this week!' Hal ignored him and stared at the man in the doorway.

'Ivan?' Ivan looked past Mitchell and at Hal and slowly stepped towards him.

'I heard you had died.' Hal quickly had to calm himself down, how on earth had Ivan of all people ended up in Barry? It was strange when he thought about it, only a few weeks earlier he had been in Southend thinking that he would never see all of these vampires again, and now he was here standing in a room with a man who had committed such atrocities.

'I hadn't.' Suddenly, Ivan looked from Hal to Mitchell and back again, a look of disbelieving coming over his face.

'You're both clean aren't you?' A sardonic laugh bubbled out of his mouth. 'Hal Yorke and John Mitchell, living together not drinking blood? My God.' He walked further into the house, and noticed George and Annie sitting on the sofa and George briefly looked up and he stared open mouthed at the resurrected vampire.

'What's he doing here?' Although George was surprised, the tone he spoke it in was dulled and Ivan glanced at him curiously.

'So he's still alive then?' For a moment Ivan looked at him, before turning his attention back to Hal. 'I assume you're in one of your 'good' stages at the moment.'

'No this is permanent.' Hal didn't particularly want the others hearing about his past, and his heart beat slightly faster in his chest and pulled out the domino from his pocket and began to twirl it around his fingers.

'Well, the amount of times I have heard that from you have been numerous.'

'Ivan,' he warned, 'please.' Seeming to accept that he wouldn't get much more out of Hal, he looked back to Mitchell.

'Now, what were you about to say about Daisy?' The Irish vampire suddenly stiffened, how on earth was he supposed to tell Ivan about the death of Daisy, for a moment he didn't speak.

'She's dead.' George suddenly said and Ivan's head snapped back to the werewolf, and Mitchell could have sworn he saw a flicker of sadness pass over his eyes.

'What?'

'Some vampire hunters got her a while ago.'

'Who?' Ivan seemed to be unable to speak properly, or at least in long sentences.

'He's dead.' George looked up to Mitchell and gave a roll of his eyes before he pushed himself up from the sofa and proceeded to walk towards the stairs, his eyes were blank and void of emotion as he walked pass Mitchell and climbed up the stairs to his room.

'Ge-' Mitchell began, but Hal silenced him with a shake of his head, and Mitchell realised that it was pointless to call after his friend.

'Would anyone like to explain Daisy's death to me?' Ivan finally said, finally able to process the information.

'She was staked by some werewolves a while ago, there were two of them, it was the older one.' Mitchell declined to mention that the werewolf's surrogate son was in fact right upstairs, but he had grown a fondness for the young man and he did appear to have changed his ways. And another death in the house would be catastrophic. 'Listen Ivan I'm sorry.'

'It's fine.' He closed his eyes for a moment, waiting for the information to sink in slightly more, and felt the sadness wash over him. It had been so long since he had felt anything like that. When he opened his eyes he noticed that the ghost had gone and that the other two were looking at him with what looked like feelings of compassion. It was strange seeing Hal like this, when he had first known he was the impossibly elegant, old, brutal vampire who had massacred his way back home with him, and now he was living in Barry in a former 'B&B' with John Mitchell of all people. 'You realise that this is the place to be at the moment?' The grief he had felt had quickly washed away and he pushed it to the back of his mind for the moment.

'What do you mean?' The younger of the two vampires asked, and Ivan smirked.

'You haven't heard?'

'We tend to keep away from the others.'

'Wyndam's here for one and I just came here to join in the party when I heard that none other than you,' he looked at Mitchell, 'was staying here as well.'

'Why Barry? What would possibly make them come to Barry?' Mitchell said disbelievingly.

'I'm not quite sure at the moment.'

'Where are they all staying?' Hal asked, an idea coming to his mind, as he flicked the domino in his hands over and over again.

'Stoker Imports.'

–/-

Hal had found the place without much pain and went straight there after he had finished the shift with Tom. Ivan had left the house quickly after he had told them where the vampires were staying, and told them he was staying at the Barry Grand Hotel for a while. In some ways Hal cursed his luck, how he had managed to get to what seemed like the centre of all supernatural activity in the UK was a mystery to him, but in some senses he knew that a part of him wanted the others to come. That part of him that he had kept hidden so well for the past fifty-years was beginning to rear its head again and he could feel it. He stopped for a moment and shook his head, he couldn't let that side of him take over again. Once he arrived at Stoker Imports it was obvious it was a hive of vampire activity, vampires were hardly subtle in their dress, and many of them liked to wear black- possibly just to fit into the stereotype. Slowly, swallowing down any nervousness, he walked up to the door and knocked, a little slider opened, and a man was the other side.

'I'm here to see Wyndam.' The two eyes behind the slot widened slightly.

'Who are you?' Hal bit down annoyance, but a slight wave of relief passed over him, the idea of throwing himself into this den of vipers for a werewolf he barely knew was ridiculous. But he forced himself not to be a coward, and looked straight into the two eyes on the other side of the door.

'If you know what's good for you, you'll open the door.' There was a moment of hesitation, but reluctantly the man on the other side of the door opened it, and Hal walked in. It was almost if he could smell the blood that soaked the walls of this place, there were a decent number of people around but they paid him little attention. Looking up he noticed a person in a cage, and looked at the bottles of blood around the place. They almost cried out to him, and it was difficult being around these vampires without wanting to join in. He felt disgusted at the same time as feeling as if this was where he belonged, and he stood there staring at the disused warehouse before he shook himself out of his thoughts.

Slowly he walked through the warehouse, trying to attract a few stares as possible, and he tried to see where the hell Wyndam might be. After a minute of wondering around the surprisingly large building he gave up, and stopped one of the vampires who was walking past him.

'You don't know where Wyndam is?' The young woman regarded him suspiciously.

'Who's asking?'

'Hal Yorke.' She didn't seem to recognise the name, but nodded anyway, and walked off in a direction before she stopped and turned around impatiently.

'I don't have all day you realise?' Hal realised she was talking to him.

'Oh, I-' He cut himself off before he looked any more ridiculous and followed her.

* * *

**Yes, I know, this does seem like some shitstorm of a fix where I just bring back characters that I miss on the show. It's not. I swear. There's a reason. (Okay, maybe I missed Ivan a tiny bit.) **

**As for why he can be resurrected, if a vampire can survive having his head torn off, surely it would make sense that they can be resurrected from being blown up. Especially since we see Ivan's body at the end of the episode that the sad event happens (sob).**

**Next time: Hal sees Wyndam. George is sad. Mitchell and Annie have a drama. Tom continues plotting. Ivan is around, like he should be.**


	5. Chapter 5

**New chapter, it seems that when I have revision and things to do my writer's block just _fades _away... Anyway, enjoy the chapter. It's not the best, but it covers some ground in the plot. Oh, and there's Hal&Mitchell flashback, since I know a couple of you were asking. **

**As per usual, I apologise for the mistakes and shitty writing, but leave a review if you want to say what you thought, they (and procrastination) really help me to get the motivation to write. Maybe I should be like one of those first time fanfiction writers and claim 'I WON'T UPDATE UNLESS I GET 15 REVIEWS!111!'.**

**...Only joking.**

* * *

Wyndam was staring at the world map when Hal walked in, and he turned around with an expression of boredom.

'Ah, Harry, I was expecting that you would come.' Mock thoughtfulness passed across his face for a moment, 'Or don't you like to be called Hal now?' Hal found himself speechless, he really shouldn't have come to the bloody warehouse, he should have just let Mitchell deal with it. They were his friends after all. Wyndam seemed surprised at his lack of speech and crossed further towards him, but Hal was trying to focus on anything but the blood in the centre of the table, it was almost as if it were calling out for him. He reached into the pocket of his trousers and pulled out the domino reminding himself of Leo and the others, the people who he needed to remain strong for. Wyndam was practically in front of him now, inspecting his face. 'You know, I went through this stage too, a while ago, maybe when I was about two-hundred or something.'

'It's not a stage.' Hal finally managed to bite out, and Wyndam gave a slight laugh.

'It's always a stage, back and forth, back and forth, good to bad, bad to good. It doesn't do anyone any good.' The older vampire dug in his pocket for a moment before he pulled out a packet of cigarettes, and offered one to Hal.

'I don't smoke.' He had given up long ago, Leo had said if he could give up smoking, then he could give up blood.

'It's not as if it's going to kill you.' Hal stared at the cigarette. One wouldn't hurt, maybe it would take his mind off the blood. Slowly he rose his hand, and took the proffered object and placed it in his mouth, before Wyndam lit it.

–/-

'Mitchell, it's your turn to look after the baby.' Annie called up the stairs.

'What?' He called down, and Annie gave a slight shake of her head, before she rent-a-ghosted up to Mitchell's room, where he was putting on a shirt. She averted her eyes, but couldn't resist taking a little peak. It was difficult between them now, she didn't want to get back together with him, not after what he did, but at the same time she still felt attracted to him. Once he had put his shirt on he looked at her with a curious expression. 'What was it Annie?'

'Baby, it's your turn.' He closed his eyes in frustration.

'I can't.'

'Mitchell, no one else is looking after her, and I've been doing it for days, and so has Tom, it's reall-'

'She's not my child. Anyway, there's a chance that I'll go all snappy-snappy at her.' Annie couldn't resist rolling her eyes, before she realised what he was talking about, and she couldn't help the feeling of disgust that rose up through her.

'You won't okay.' For a moment she looked slightly flustered. 'I mean, you wouldn't would you?' Something she couldn't quite pinpoint crossed Mitchell's face, but he shook his head and smiled.

'No of course not.' He gave up. 'Alright, fine I'll look after her. What are you doing that's so important anyway?' Annie did the thing that she usually did when she was nervous and her voice went a slightly higher pitch than usual.

'Well, um, Tom and I are going to the pub.'

'You and the werewolf?'

'Yeah, just trying to get out of the house you know, it's been a bit doom and gloom with everything that's gone on.' Mitchell nodded, trying not to get angry. 'Oh, have you seen Hal at all?' The change in subject was obvious, but Mitchell ignored it.

'No I haven't, why?'

'No reason.'

'Alright. Perfect. So you know what to do then?'

'Annie, I have't been around babies much.'

'Well, you know, keep her happy, give her milk if she starts crying the usual.' She paused for a moment, and was about to rent-a-ghost out of the room, before she remembered something. 'Oh, and no smoking around her.'

'Annie, I've told you, my father used to smoke around me all th-'

'Yes Mitchell, and that was also a hundred-years ago. And you're a vampire.' This time, it was Mitchell's turn to roll his eyes.

'Fine.'

–/-

Hal inhaled the cigarette slowly, savouring the taste, it had been such a long time since he had smoked, and it still had the same calming effect on him. Slowly he raised his eyes from the floor and looked at Wyndam.

'I want you to leave them alone.' Wyndam laughed.

'Who? Your pets?'

'Yes Wyndam. They have't done anything to you.' The other vampire cocked his head, and Hal took another puff on the cigarette, watching the smoke as it rose up in the air.

'Well, they have actually. Tom was quite the little vampire killer.' Wyndam paused to light up his own cigarette and accidentally-on-purpose blew the smoke into his face. 'And George has killed a fair few vampires in his time. It's only fair that they should have retribution.'

'Just leave us alone.'

'I'm not the one who's still in the hub of vampire activity in Britain at the moment, nor am I the one who wondered into the HQ. I mean, it's almost as if you _want _to see us.' Hal didn't have a response to that, of course he didn't want them to see him, it was just that it was the only place he could be at the moment.

'Please Wyndam. You don't need to kill them, they're harmless.'

'George killed Herrick. I didn't like the sod of course, but that's still an attack on us. You think that you coming in here and demanding that I stop is going to do anything? You're harmless. Both of you are.' Hal couldn't stop the annoyance from bubbling up within him. A hundred-years ago he probably could have got away with staking Wyndam for speaking to him like that, and here he was trying to protect a couple of hound- He took a breath, and then another drag on his cigarette, he couldn't think like that, that wasn't him.

_Anymore_.

'You know what, I don't care what you're playing at. But if one of them get's attack I'm coming in here and staking one of yours.'

'Go ahead. They're all idiots.' With a huff Hal stubbed the cigarette out and began to walk away. 'You know, just like Cutler.' Abruptly he stopped walking, but didn't look back at Wyndam.

'Cutler's here?' He felt like he was tightrope walking he was so tense.

'Yes.' Trying to play it cool, he gave a shrug of his shoulders and walked off.

–/-

When Hal got back to the house, he saw Mitchell sitting in the front room with the baby in a cot next to him. He looked up briefly at the sound of the door opening, and Hal gave a nod of greeting to him.

'Where's Annie?' The other vampire didn't say anything for a moment.

'Out.'

'With Tom? I didn't reali-'

'They're not together if you were thinking that.' Mitchell cut him off, and Hal stared at him for a moment without talking.

'Are you and Annie, together then?' He felt strange prying into this man's life but he had to know, the dynamic in the house was so strange since Nina died, even though the woman hadn't liked him.

'We were, and then I killed twenty people on a train with Daisy.' Hal made a chocking sound and Mitchell looked up to him.

'What, Daisy as in Ivan's Daisy?' Mitchell didn't say anything but responded with a nod, but he cocked his head slightly to the side.

'You know what I find so fucking annoying though?' Hal didn't speak. 'You know, I do one thing like that once and I lose everything, yet you.. You used to do stuff like that practically everyday, and they don't treat you like some kind of monster!' A sardonic laugh escaped Hal's mouth.

'I was under the impression that you had told them about my _exploits_?' He couldn't help feeling slightly nervous at the idea of his new housemates knowing about his chequered past, and yet he hoped that Mitchell hadn't.

'No, no I haven't.' He remained silent for a few seconds before continuing. 'Look, I'm sorry. It's just that...' Mitchell trailed off, not saying anything, but Hal gave a sympathetic nod and cross the room to sit down nearer Mitchell and Eve. Neither were any good at expressing their feelings, but in a sense the two seemed to understand the struggle that the other was under.

'Look, God knows that I've done some terrible things in my past, and that person's just bubbling under the surface, and they're never going to understand. Pearl and Leo didn't, and I'm afraid the others won't either.' Hal shuffled awkwardly in his seat as Mitchell stared at him.

'You know the when I first saw you, I couldn't imagine you being like this. You seemed like the last vampire on earth who would try and go clean.' A grimace passed over Hal's face.

'When was it?'

'Paris, 1921' Mitchell fell silent, remembering the times.

_He and Herrick had gone to Paris after the First World War, and this was the first time that he had been back since. It was incredible he thought, when he went off to war he was just a young Irish man now he wasn't even human and he was cavorting around Europe. Living a life he couldn't have dreamed of when he was human. When he had first reached Paris this time he was slightly nervous, perhaps some of the patrons of his favourite haunts would recognise him._

_ But in reality the trip had gone off almost perfectly, Herrick rounded up business that he needed to take care of, whilst Mitchell enjoyed the bars and girls of Paris. It was their last night when he met _him _though. _

_'Where are we going Herrick?' He asked impatiently, he had arranged to meet with a girl named Aimee to-night, but Herrick had forced him to cancel the arrangement, and come with him to some fancy part of town._

_'The Ritz. Why Mitchell?'_

_'Why I was perfectly happy to st-' The English vampire turned to him and fixed him with a harsh stare._

_'You have to see a different part of Paris at some point Mitchell. It's all very well hanging around with whores and ungentle folk but I refuse to spend my last night in one of those grotty little bars again, not when we've been invited here.' Mitchell bit back annoyance, he hated how Herrick treated him like a child sometimes. The carriage stopped outside of the famous hotel, and Mitchell looked up at the impressive outside, people passed in an out, glamourous women with their short hair and well dressed men in tails. He was secretly glad that he had taken Herrick's advice and put on his tails now._

_ Once they were inside, Herrick found his friend immediately, and introduced Mitchell. Jonathan was an old acquaintance from the Boer War apparently, and the two had bumped into each other the day before. This being Herrick's last night in Paris meant that Mitchell was dragged along to the little meeting. But the man was nice enough, and plenty of war stories were exchanged between the men._

_'And it was at this point that the guy had his gun pointed at me, you know threatening to shoot, but I say to him, go ah-' Jonathan suddenly went quite pale and looked at something beyond Mitchell's head, and Mitchell turned around to look at who was there. When he did he saw a well-dressed man, who held a cane in his hands, who was talking to one of the waiters. The waiter looked quite nervous and hurriedly went to sit him at a table, but this was before he noticed Herrick and his cohort and moved quickly towards him. When Mitchell turned back to Herrick he could see that he too was nervous, and he had his eyes focused on the ground refusing to even look up to acknowledge the man. Mitchell didn't know whether to look back, but the man spoke before he could decide._

_'Ah, Herrick, it's been a long time hasn't it. And Jonathan too? What a nice little crew?' Herrick looked up, and swallowed nervously._

_'Lord Harry.' He gave a nod of acknowledgement. 'How come you are in Paris?' _Lord Harry_ smirked, and looked at Mitchell briefly._

_'And who is this then?' He addressed his question to Herrick, dodging the one that had been aimed at him._

_'Oh, this is Mitchell, he's my new recruit.' The man looked down at him._

_'How do you do?' Mitchell wasn't nervous, but he took his lead from the other's and only nodded at the man, he looked at him for a moment longer and then looked back to the other two vampires._

_'We're having a dog fight if you want to come to-morrow?' _

_'Herrick's leaving to-morrow.' _

_'Shame. What about you Mitchell?'_

_'I'm going too.' Lord Harry gave a sarcastic smile, and tapped his cane on the floor._

_'Well you have to break away from your master at some point don't you?' At Mitchell's torn expression he gave a laugh. 'Ignore me, I did not really meet the person who recruited me. Well. I suppose I did try and kill him, so he did not really want me to stay around.' He smiled menacingly, showing all his teeth. 'It was nice to see all of you. I'm afraid I have a couple of other people I have to see, but you're all very welcome to have a _drink _in my room later.' None of them missed the hidden meaning behind his words, and mumbled their goodbyes, but the man had already strolled off before he could have heard._

_'Who was that?' Mitchell hissed at Herrick, and Herrick grimaced._

_'He's an Old One. Pretty infamous really. He's probably killed more people than you've met.' Herrick paused for a moment, and took a sip of his wine. 'Apparently one time he and Fergus went into a house and slaughtered everyone in it, God knows what else he has done.' By the end of the night, the three did not take up Lord Harry's offer, but when Mitchell had turned back as they were leaving, Lord Harry raised a glass up in a mock toast to Mitchell, and he couldn't shake the feeling of jitteriness until they had left the hotel._

'I was a different person.' Hal said, unwilling to remember the times in Paris. He was so torn, of course he had enjoyed it, or at least his other side had, but now when he thought about it, he reviled the idea of what he had done.

'We both were.' Hal didn't know what made him say what he did next, but it was nice to have someone who understood just exactly what he was going though.

'You know though, there's still a part of me that enjoys it you know. God, the last time I drunk anything at all was when I attacked a budgie in 1959 but I still dream about it sometimes.' Mitchell gave a snort, and a ghost of smile appeared on Hal's face.

'Does it ever end though?' Mitchell's previous amusement had faded and Hal gave a slight shake of his head.

'I don't think so. I've done this enough times to know that I'll probably always go back, but in my mind what makes it better is that I have tried to be better. I think that's what it is.' Hal stared at the floor not saying anything for a while, before turned to Mitchell again. 'You don't happen to have a cigarette do you?'

* * *

**No George this chapter. I'm not really sure what to do with him really, it gets so boring to write a depressed character. Ah, and Mitchell Hal bonding time, yay. **

**Next up: Ivan. Wyndam. People. Stuff happens. Revenge. You're probably not even reading this are you? **


	6. Chapter 6

**Firstly, I would just like to apologise for the length of the chapter... Secondly, thank you thank you thank you to everyone who has reviewed, they've been really great for writer's block and the constructive criticism really helps me with my writing style! **

**Anyway enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Once Hal had smoked the cigarette that Mitchell had rolled for him, he made a resolution to not smoke again. No matter how it made him feel, how it quelled the bloodlust for a moment or two, now was not the right time for him to be doing so. He let himself back in through the kitchen door, and back to the living room, where Mitchell was still sitting.

'Mitchell, I need to tell you something.' Hal said, Mitchell looked to him slightly surprised, and with an expression on his face that he was expecting the worst.

'You didn't feed did you?' The elder vampire looked taken aback at the thought, and quickly shook his head.

'No, nothing like that.' He paused, unsure of how to explain what he knew. 'I know who killed Nina. Well, not who exactly killed her, but who ordered it.' Mitchell's eyes widened slightly, and he seemed more attentive.

'Who?' For a moment Hal said nothing, wondering whether it was really the right idea for him to be telling Mitchell this, considering that he would probably go along and help George kill the guy.

'Wyndam. I went to see him to-day at Stoker Imports.' Mitchell fixed him with a curious stare.

'Why?'

'I went to tell him to leave us alone. But listen Mitchell, you can't act against him.' At Mitchell's defiant expression he continued. 'He's an Old One, he's probably nearly at the top now as well, God knows what would happen if you did anything to him.'

'He deserves it.'

'I know he does, but you just can't do that.'

'You could?' Hal remained silent. There was no way that he was going to try and kill Wyndam, he was trying to remain under the radar for Christ's sake.

'I haven't fed for fifty years, I'd be staked in a minute.' He closed his eyes for a moment, and tried to calm the nervous feeling. 'I don't even know why I told you, but maybe... Maybe if we find out who killed Nina, who actually physically killed Nina, then we could get pay-'

'It's just going to be one of his lackeys, you know that.' Hal nodded.

'It's better than nothing. You can not kill Wyndam.'

'Why are you protecting him?' Mitchell's voice had suddenly become more angry, and Hal found himself taking a step back.

'Because Mitchell, we will be killed ourself for that. There a preposterous amount of vampires on this island at the moment.' Mitchell looked like he was going to argue more, but then his body slumped and he relaxed back onto the sofa, relenting. But what neither of the two vampires realised was that at the top of the stairs George was listening to every word they said.

–/-

After he heard the conversation, George couldn't get the words out of his head. Wyndam had killed Nina, and it seemed as if the only emotion that was permeating the wall of grief he felt at the moment was pure, undiluted rage. As he lay on his bed, _their _bed, and looked up into the ceiling, for the first time since Nina's death he felt _something_, and that was better than nothing.

But he couldn't help the anger he felt towards the two vampires downstairs, first the posh-one, he was keeping a secret from him, and secondly Mitchell, Mitchell of all people had screwed everything up. He was still here, if George had killed him, there would be no Wyndam, no threats, no nothing. He, Nina, Eve, and Annie would be living together in peace, and happiness, there would be no bloody vampires to cause problems.

His breath grew ragged as he turned these thoughts over in his mind, and studied the cracks in the ceiling of the dingy bedroom. If he looked anywhere else he would be reminded of the life he had lost. Nina's clothes still remained, and little things, just like the book she was reading was left on the bedside table or the fact that he rings remained on the desk. Just like she would be coming home the next day, but she wouldn't. She never was.

He began to cry, tears falling down the side of his face, and onto the pillow beneath him. And for a moment he almost let himself get caught up in his grief, but this time the rage he felt against vampires pulled him out of it. His eyes closed, and for a moment he lay on the bed completely immobile, when he opened them again they were red from crying, but no tears escaped them. Not now, instead they reflected a steely desire for revenge. Slowly he turned his head and looked at the calender on the bedside table, a full moon was coming up, and in his mind an idea blossomed.

–/-

'Tom you can change in the cellar if you want.' George spoke the young werewolf, trying to disguise the hope in his voice, but he felt as if a tiny bit sneaked through, since Tom regarded him suspiciously.

'Nah, it's fine. I like changin' in the woods.' Biting back annoyance, George tried to put on a friendly smile.

'Well. I was just thinking since there were all the problems with the vampires...' Manipulation had never been his strong suit, but Tom was so innocently naïve that he might just buy it. Tom looked at him for a moment, and George felt slightly bad for what he was doing, but then the young man nodded and George gave a slight smile.

'Alrigh' then.'

–/-

'So Hal then? What do you think of him?' Ivan asked Mitchell as he took a sip of the whiskey he was holding.

'He's odd.' Mitchell didn't quite know how to describe the old vampire. 'It's almost as if he's schizo or something you know.' Ivan didn't say anything, waiting for him to elaborate. 'When I met him- the first time- he was this evil intimidating vampire who Herrick was scared of, and now he's this OCD guy. I don't know. He's the same person obviously but, it just seems like he's different as well.'

'It's what happens when you do this for too long.'

'Do what?'

'Give up blood. You all crack eventually.' Ivan looked him over once and then gave a grimace. 'I mean, you look like shit now.'

'Yeah, you tell me that every time.' Mitchell looked around the small bar they were sitting in, there weren't many people around, the other patrons were sitting in the corners of the bar talking quietly, it was only early after all. But Mitchell felt an achievement at being here, he hadn't ripped anyone's throat out, nor had he felt the urge to. Yet.

'When was the last time you had a proper drink?'

'Box Tunnel.'

'But didn't you say you were strapped in a chai-'

'I was regressing.' The two didn't say anything to each other for a moment, until Mitchell suddenly realised something. 'What happened to the other vampires in Bristol?'

'The ones who were in the explosion?'

'No, the other vampires who didn't get blown up. Yeah, of course those ones.' The Irish vampire retorted sarcastically, Ivan remained silent.

'I'm not sure. I guess they would be coming here.' Mitchell's eyes widened slightly, and for measure he took a big gulp from his drink.

'Here? To Barry?'

'It was the last place Herrick was seen, so I suppose so.' Ivan scrunched up his face and thought. 'I mean, I guess that's probably not great for you then, but at least it'll liven things up a bit.' In reply Mitchell said only one word.

'Shit.'

–/-

'Hal!' He called into the house as soon as he was in, George and Tom were transforming, and Annie didn't even sleep, so he didn't mind about waking people up. Mitchell waited for a minute, and sure enough Hal emerged at the top of the stairs, wiping his eyes groggily.

'What? Christ what time is it?'

'Come down here, there's a problem.' He gave a sigh of exasperation and made his way slowly down the stairs, which creaked as he did so. Once he was down Mitchell walked over to the bar and poured himself a drink, and offered one to Hal, which he declined. 'You might want it.' Ignoring Hal's refusal, he poured the other vampire a drink, which he set on the surface of the bar.

'What is is it then that is so monumentally important to be pulled out of bed for? Mitchell gave a grimace and took a sip of the sherry, which appeared to be the only alcohol in the house at this point strangely.

'The Bristol vampires are coming here.'

'And?'

'I was the fucking leader of the Bristol vampires, so either they're going to go off and be friends with Wyndam and co. or they're gonna be right at our bloody doorstep.' Hal didn't say anything.

'So what you're saying, is that, tons of vampires are going be turning up here.'

'Pretty much.'

'Or they're going to be trying to kill us or something?'

'Yeah.' Hal reached for the drink, and downed it in one; his face screwing up at the taste of the cheap sherry.

'Who told you this?' Mitchell didn't say anything. 'It was Ivan wasn't it. He is probably going to lead them right to us.' A heavy sigh escaped Hal's mouth and he shook his head slightly. 'I can't be here.'

'You have to, you're the only one protecting us from Wyndam,' Mitchell paused, 'and you're not bad t'have around.' If Mitchell wasn't as tipsy as he was, he wouldn't have said the last part of the sentence, especially since Hal tensed up, and became more awkward than he usually was.

'Thanks.' He finally bit out. 'But that does not change the fact that I will probably become a mass-murdering psychopath if I'm around th-'

'They won't be here for long, I'll kick 'em out or something.' With a dismissive shake of his head, he began to describe them. 'They're harmless really, mostly new recruits, they'll just be wanting to find direction or something.' For a second Hal looked as if he was about to refuse to stay, but then he nodded.

'I'll stay then, but you have to help me if...' He trailed off, but Mitchell understood. Hal stopped speaking, but he felt a certain shakiness come upon him, and familiar clenching in his arms and chest. 'Sorry, you wouldn't mind if I had another cigarette off you.' This one would be his last, he promised himself it would be, but in the back of his mind he knew that it really wouldn't.

–/-

Near the entrance to Stoker Imports lay a knapsack, a set of clothes, and mobile phone, inconsequential items, but highlighted in the light of the full moon, all laying in wait for the morning. The owner of the clothes however, had snuck into the vampire HQ, and lay in wait for the change to come upon him. The vampires were inside too, talking or some such, and as George felt the transition begin, he couldn't help but have a small grin on his face.

* * *

**Next time: Dramas. **


	7. Chapter 7

**So I am so sorry for not updating for so long, I've been at home for the last week so my time has been taken up by revision, going out, and fighting with various people (apparently I'm on drugs, either because I spend too much time in my room or because I go out too much. Urgh.) **

**That's basically why I haven't updated, I just haven't really had the time although this chapter was sitting on my computer for quite a while, I just had to finish the last bit. I'm afraid the updates are probably going to stall for a bit, since I have exams in the next few months, which sadly will have to take precedence. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter, and review if you have anything to say! **

**(Also, this is a complete side note, but have any of you seen the extra scene on DVD? IT WAS AMAZING! I can't wait for the fanfics that follow. Hopefully.)**

* * *

George awoke, blood covered and naked, as he opened his eyes wondering where he was, the events of the previous night came back to him. Slowly he lifted his head, and looked around, bloodied limbs lay strewn around the floor and a smile made it's way onto his face. But as his eyes fully focused, he realised that something was wrong when he saw two feet and he lifted his head to see Wyndam staring down at him stoney-faced. His heart beat faster in his chest and the implications of his massacre came back to him.

'George.' The vampire's glare went right through him, and he pushed himself up from the stone floor, resting on his elbows, in a comedically relaxed position. 'I should kill you for what you've done.'

'I hope you do.' Wyndam said nothing for a moment, but beckoned two others, who pulled George up and restrained him.

'Where's the fun in that? No, I think we'll get a little use out of you first, since you seem to like killing so much...' George swallowed nervously, pushing against the men who held him in place.

'What?'

'We're going to use you in dog fights of course, again and again, until you get killed.' Wyndam gave a laugh, a harsh unpleasant noise, and with a wave of his hands beckoned his two henchmen to take their new prisoner to the cell.

–/-

Mitchell knew something was wrong as soon as he saw Tom coming up the stairs from the cellar after the change. He caught Tom and he walked past it to get to the kitchen, and Mitchell halted in his tracks.

'Where's George?' Mitchell asked, peering down the stairs, Tom looked up, wide-eyed and innocent.

''E went to change in the woods.'

'The woods?' Apprehensively Tom nodded. Mitchell felt nervous, there was no way that George would have changed in the woods unless he had a reason, he pulled out his mobile from his pocket and checked it for text messages, there were none.

'Did he say why?'

'Said it was too dangerous for me.' The vampire cocked his head to the side, but moved out of the way to let Tom out. 'It was well nice of 'im to do that.' Mitchell nodded in agreement, too distracted to answer properly, and as Tom walked away he stared at his retreating form.

–/-

Ivan was the last person Hal expected to see walk into the little caf that he and Tom worked at. The usually elegant man looked out of place in the dingy cafe, and Hal looked back nervously to see that Tom had realised that there was a vampire in the cafe. With a slight shake of his head, he signalled that the man wasn't any danger, but widened his eyes slightly trying to hint to Tom that he ought to stay in the back.

'Harry.'

'What are you doing here?' Ivan shook his head and gave a sarcastic tut.

'Now, at least Mitchell can be civil.'

'Mitchell tends to _slip _slightly more than I do.' Hal resisted the urge to glare. He and Ivan had been friends once, but Ivan's tendency to trouble-make often led to Hal breaking his sobriety.

'Mitchell's more fun than you are too.' Hal didn't say anything for a moment before a bubble of irritation rose up in him.

'What do you want?'

'Just wanted to catch up on old times.'

'I've heard that before.' Hal's fingers drummed against the table top, and Ivan looked down at them.

'How about a spot of luncheon then?' The formal term for lunch was an uncomfortable reminder of the times that he and Ivan had had, but he couldn't deny that a hint of nostalgia wormed its way into his mind.

'Will you leave me alone then?'

'I suppose.' Relenting, Hal looked down and checked his watch, it was almost twelve, so he supposed that he could get off on his lunch shift early, without saying anything he went around to the back and explained to Tom where he was going. Tom did not seem very keen on the idea, but agreed to cover for him anyway, and with that Hal was off after pulling on his jacket.

Once he and Ivan were outside, Ivan lit a cigarette, and offered one to Hal, who accepted.

'Where are we going?' He asked, as they walked along the promenade, and Hal couldn't help but enjoy the nice day, even if what he was doing was dangerous for his abstinence.

'Only nice place in town. It's just down the road.' The two walked in silence for a while, and Hal had to stop himself from running away at least once, Ivan was never good for him, especially when he had been dry for such a long time, but he broke the silence at least. 'You know what I don't understand, why Wales?'

'What do you mean?'

'Well, you could have gone to any place in Britain, and you choose _Wales_?'

'It's a very long story.' Hal told him as they stepped into the posh hotel, a waiter came up to them and showed them to a table, the actions disrupting Hal's thoughts about Leo and Pearl. Once they had sat down, and taken a browse through the menu, Hal looked up at Ivan. 'Why are you still here?'

'Well, I've been trying to find Daisy for a while,' Ivan paused, clearly upset at the loss of his wife, even if he did let her go around and have sex with other men, something that Hal had never understood. 'Then I found out that this is the vampire hotspot of the world at the moment.'

'World?' Hal asked, slightly nervous.

'Wyndam told me that they're all coming here.'

'Who?'

'The Old Ones.' Hal took a gulp of water from his glass, feeling quite queasy, when he spoke his voice came out in little more than a whisper.

'All of them?'

'Didn't I tell you?' At this moment Hal wanted to get up and run far far away from the table he sat at, run from Wales, run from Britain, run from Europe if that's what it took, but by some strange force he stayed seated.

'No. I don't think you mentioned it.' Ivan nodded, as if the information wasn't incredibly important to Hal.

'So what are you going to have to eat?' He asked, moving away from the topic, Hal was slightly distracted and didn't respond for a moment.

'Not sure.' He couldn't even string a sentence together properly. Or at least he didn't think he could.

'Well. We all know what you'd rather be eating.' A smirk followed the comment, and Hal dismissed him with a wave of his hand, trying not to believe what the other vampire was saying, but of course that was true. 'Where have you been all these years then?'

'Southend-on-Sea, I was living with some friends.' Ivan opened his mouth as if to ask another question, but just before he spoke a phone ringing interrupted him. The tune was one that Hal could briefly remember hearing a while ago, something about how some girl's hips don't lie, but the song was cut short as Ivan picked up the telephone.

'Yes?' There was some murmuring on the other line and Ivan's expression changed from annoyed to shocked, and Hal leaned in slightly, as if to hear what was going on. But the conversation was short, and with a 'see you soon' Ivan put down the telephone. 'I have to go.'

'Why what's happened?' For a moment Ivan did not say anything, but instead grabbed his wine glass and downed it, drawing some odd expressions from the others in the restaurant.

'Werewolves.'

'Werewolves? Who?'

'One of yours. Wyndam wants me to go over.' Hal stared at him, too shocked to say anything, but mimicked Ivan's previous action and downed the water in his glass before standing up.

'I'll come.'

'What? No.'

'I have to.'

'No you don't this has nothing to do-'

'It bloody well does.' The other vampire looked as if he was going to argue, but he relented, and reluctantly allowed Hal to go with him to his car.

–/-

As the car pulled up to Stoker Imports the need to run away came over Hal again, and he noticed that he had recently been feeling that a lot. Perhaps he was trying to tell himself something?

'Alright, come on.' Ivan said to him, as Hal simply sat and stared at the building. He steeled his nerves and walked out of the car to the building, the door opened and he was struck by the fact that limbs and various parts of human bodies were scattered around the place, with one lonely vampire clearing them up. Ivan walked up the stairs towards the place that Hal knew Wyndam was. Hal followed, when they reached the top Wyndam did a bit of a double-take but gave a sardonic smile.

'Back so soon Harry?'

'It's Hal.' He dismissed his comment with a shake of his head.

'I'll always know you as Harry.' The dark haired man appeared to loose interest, and turned to Ivan, ' I need you to sort this out.'

'What? No. I'm no-'

'You'll do what I say; you forget that I am eight-hundred years your senior.' Ivan looked as if he was going to argue, but then he slumped slightly.

'What do you want me to do?'

'Resurrect them.'

'What?' He looked slightly taken aback at the suggestion, and Hal realised what that would entail.

'I want the vampires back.'

'How?'

'However.' For a moment the three didn't say anything, but then he glanced at Hal, and a curious sense of foreboding came over him. 'Since George is their friend, perhaps they should be the ones to?' Hal gave a shake of his head.

'No way. I haven't fed in years, it would kill me.'

'Then you'll just have to feed?' Wyndam began to walk toward Hal, and he found himself stepping back, once he was only a foot away from Hal he spoke again, and Hal almost retched at the putrid copper scent of his breath, but at the same time, Hal knew that scent well, it was the scent of old blood, and he leaned slightly forward no matter how disgusted with himself he was. 'Otherwise, you'll have to say goodbye to your friend.'

'He's not my friend.'

'So you don't mind if we use him in dog fights?' Hal closed his eyes and exhaled slowly.

'No.'

'And what about John, what woul-' Wyndam didn't manage to finish his sentence, since he was interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. The two men turned and saw Mitchell almost running up. 'Speak of the devil.' Hal heard Wyndam murmur under his breath, and Ivan had remained silent moved towards Mitchell, as if to try and stop him from going towards Wyndam any further.

'WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM, YOU BASTARD!'

'I haven't done anything to him, he came here.' With a violent shake of his head Mitchell dismissed Wyndam.

'Why the fuck would he do that then?'

'He's just killed about a dozen of my vampires Mitchell.' The Irish vampire looked as if he was going to say something, but stopped himself, and fixed Wyndam with a curious stare.

'What?'

'He came in here last nigh-'

'Why the hell would he do that?'

'Because he wanted revenge.' Mitchell didn't say anything, but simply looked from Ivan to Hal, who gave a slight incline of his head to show that Wyndam was telling the truth. 'Now, I've just been explaining to Harry here that you have a choice,' Wyndam continued, 'either you resurrect the vampires he decapitated,' he paused, as if for dramatic effect, 'or he's going to be used in dog fights until he dies.' Mitchell didn't say anything for a moment, but the expression on his face showed the feelings he was having.

'Are you mental? Do you realise wha' that'll mean? Twelve vampires?'

'Exactly John.' The battle of emotions was played out on his face, and Hal watched as his emotions changed from anger, to bewilderment, finally settling of one of resolve.

'Fine.' Wyndam gave a smile, before turning back to Hal.

'And what about you, Harry?' For a moment Hal thought of running, but he couldn't, not with Mitchell standing right there, he bit his lip, but steeled himself.

'So be it.'


	8. Chapter 8

So this was a shitty chapter, but I felt that I ought to update at least once in a month... I have my A-Levels at the moment, which means I don't particularly have the time to update, but I finish on the 18th of June so they should get more regular from then onwards. Although, it gets pretty hectic then too.

Basically, I wouldn't expect anything till then, since I don't physically have the time- this chapter's been unfinished for about a month- and also sorry about any typos!

* * *

'I can't do it,' Hal hissed to Mitchell as they walked out of the building, Mitchell stopped walking and turned to him causing Hal to stop too, but he almost bumped into the other vampire.

'Why?'

'It'll kill me.'

'No it won't, Daisy managed to do it.' Hal gave a quick shake of his head.

'Daisy was also feeding off blood.'

'What do you mean?'

'I mean that as a clean vampire, it is far harder to resurrect someone.' Mitchell closed his eyes briefly, and opened them again with a determination in them, with a hint of anger.

'Why did ya agree then?'

'Because you did.'

'You didn't think that I was goin' to agree?' Hal shook his head.

'No, of course not, but,' he paused, unsure of how to explain himself, 'I don't really know George, and to be frank if it were me by myself I probably wouldn't help him.' Mitchell stared at him for a moment.

'Then don't.'

'I have to. Otherwise they'll think I'm weak and it'll cause problems.' The other vampire began to walk away, and Hal briskly caught up with him. 'What are you going to do then?'

'Drink blood.'

'Really?'

'It's the only way.' Hal grabbed onto Mitchell's shoulder and stopped him.

'As someone who has done this whole, thing, many more times than you, I need to warn you that if you drink blood you will revert.'

'I won't.'

'It's not the way that it works, Mitchell.' For a moment the two didn't say anything, but then Mitchell began to walk to his car, again Hal found himself catching up with him.

'Then I revert.'

'Do you realise what that'll do?'

'I have to, he's been there for me when I've needed it, I-'

'It's his fault!' Hal suddenly interjected. 'I'm not saying let the man die, but it is his own fault that he is there.'

'I know but it's because of us that he did that.' Slowly Hal gave a nod.

'I understand. It's my fault too. But,' he said slowly, 'what if we got someone else to do it for us?'

–/-

As they pulled up in the car Mitchell noticed that a man in a long coat was standing outside their door, and he stared at him curiously for a moment. He was bald, wearing sunglasses, and rather small, as he turned around he realised who it was.

'One of them's here.'

'Well, we don't have to look for them I suppose.' Hal said nonchalantly, and he pulled himself out of the car after Mitchell did. The two walked towards the old bed and breakfast quickly and the man looked at Mitchell with an expression of surprise.

'I didn't think I'd actually find you.'

'You did.' Mitchell replied, and the bald man looked back at him almost admiringly.

'The others, they've not got their memories back yet but I have.' The Irish vampire gave a nod, and Hal had to stop himself from laughing at the oddness of the situation, Mitchell clearly wasn't adept at leadership.

'Sorry let me just intervene,' Hal said, smoothly cutting into the conversation, and the bald man looked up at him. 'I'm Hal, by the way. Now, I need you to get the other's to get their memories back.'

'Why should I listen to him?' The bald man spoke to Mitchell, and Hal felt a pang of annoyance, Mitchell shrugged quite lamely but then shook his head.

'He's an Old One.' The bald man stared back, slightly surprised.

'Really? What are you doing here then?'

'I'm on holiday,' Hal supplied, his voice deadpan. The vampire didn't think to question it more, but then nodded, and he could detect the slight sign of fear in the bald vampire as he did.

'Alright, but why?' Again, Hal took the lead and spoke to him.

'Because we need you to help us.'

'With what?'

'Resurrecting.' The older vampire quickly said, and then he turned to Mitchell. 'Can we get inside, it's getting a bit cold.' The day was drawing to a close around them, the sky taking on the bluish tinge of nightfall, Mitchell nodded.

'Do you wanna to come inside, Sam?' He asked, and Sam shook his head.

'I'm alright thanks, but why do you need out help, what happened?'

Wearily Hal explained about the situation, and the man looked unhappy about the whole thing, but the likelihood of him disobeying orders from an Old One was tiny- even if he didn't know that Hal was not _really _an Old One, not when he was like this. He may have also left out a few details. It was reluctantly, therefore, that Sam agreed; a tinge of resentment colouring his voice, but when he left Hal was sure that there was a good chance that the vampires would help them.

–/-

'So there's a slight issue that the house needs to discuss.' Hal told Annie as they walked into the house, she was sitting in the living room feeding baby Eve some milk and she looked up at the two.

'What's it about?' She paused, laying down Eve into the crib that seemed to be permanently in the living room. The pair said nothing for a moment, but before they could explain Annie spoke. 'It's about George isn't it, what's he done?'

'Well, it's not so serious.' Mitchell said, and Annie looked at him disbelievingly.

'It's always serious Mitchell.' There was a brief standoff between the two, but Hal cleared his throat and the two looked to him.

'He killed a dozen vampires and now we have been charged with the duty of resurrecting them.'

'What?'

'Yeah, it's a pretty long story but he's got the gist of it really.' Mitchell said and Annie didn't say anything for a moment.

'He's seriously done that?' Tiredly she ran a hand through her hair and practically fell back onto the sofa, staying silent for a moment.

'It's fine we have a plan though, we just have to resurrect the vampires, well of course Mitchell and I will not be the ones doing the resurrecting, but it's the same thing really, and then George will be released and everything will be-' Whilst Hal spoke, he didn't see Annie getting more and more distressed on the sofa, but Mitchell noticed the signs of one of her mental breakdowns beginning.

'Don't say that everything will be fine!' Annie interrupted. 'It's not going to be fine. Nina's still dead, Eve still doesn't have a mother, and you two,' she didn't elaborate on that, but simply waved her hand in their general direct and scoffed. In the kitchen, a mug flew off the shelf and smashed onto the floor, and a bottle from the bar flew onto the opposite wall, causing Mitchell to duck as it soared over his head. Hal quickly intervened.

'George will get better.' Again she shook her head, but luckily no other objects took off, and Mitchell slowly pulled himself up to his full hight.

'No he won't. You know he won't.' Briefly she looked pass them, and Hal turned his head and saw Tom walking in.

'Wha' happened?'

'It's a really long story.' Mitchell supplied, but again it was Hal who was left to do the quick explanation of what had transpired in the past day. But rather than attempt to make an ill-advised rescue plan, Tom turned to Annie, looking genuinely angry.

'Oh so it's alright for 'im to do tha' but not me Annie?' Annie stared up a Tom.

'I didn't fucking give my blessing to him before he left.' Another mug in the kitchen crashed off the shelf, and Mitchell put a hand on her shoulder, distracting her momentarily from her anger.

'Annie.' His soft Irish voice reminded her of the times that they had had before the Box 20 murders, before the hell that was Barry had become her daily life, and for a moment a wave of nostalgia overtook her. Until it was crushed with an overwhelming feeling of burning hatred, and within seconds the one of the chairs had been pulled upwards and was rapidly flying towards the bar, and the kettle flew out of the kitchen. It only took a moment, but soon they collided with the things in their path, the chair right into the bar, almost smashing it to pieces, but the chair itself was destroyed, it breaking in a a rather disappointing way; whereas the kettle flew right past the quartet and smashed through the window into the street with a loud smash, before the kettle itself fell to the floor and bounced once, suddenly pulling them from their momentary lull.

'Annie you need to calm down.' Hal finally said, and she look up at him, her eyes glassy and she nodded quickly.

'Sorry,' she mumbled, 'I didn't mean for that to happen.' Tom who was still staring at the hole left in the window glanced back at the rest of them, and then shook his head.

'It's disgustin' what your lot do.' But he made no exit from the room, but rather sat down on the sofa next to Annie, without elaborating further. Hal too thought briefly about bringing the kettle back inside, but sighed joined the others on the sofa, whilst Mitchell searched around for the remote, before he also placed himself in front of the telly and the four of them watched the television, not quite taking in what was on it but rather finding comfort in the moving images as their thoughts were in other places entirely.


End file.
